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Punishment for Israel

9 Do not rejoice, Israel;do not be jubilant like the other nations.For you have been unfaithful to your God;you love the wages of a prostituteat every threshing floor.2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;the new wine will fail them.3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land;Ephraim will return to Egyptand eat unclean food in Assyria.4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,nor will their sacrifices please him.Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;all who eat them will be unclean.This food will be for themselves;it will not come into the temple of the Lord.

5 What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals,on the feast days of the Lord?6 Even if they escape from destruction,Egypt will gather them,and Memphis will bury them.Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers,and thorns will overrun their tents.7 The days of punishment are coming,the days of reckoning are at hand.Let Israel know this.Because your sins are so manyand your hostility so great,the prophet is considered a fool,the inspired person a maniac.8 The prophet, along with my God,is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]yet snares await him on all his paths,and hostility in the house of his God.9 They have sunk deep into corruption,as in the days of Gibeah.God will remember their wickednessand punish them for their sins.

10 “When I found Israel,it was like finding grapes in the desert;when I saw your ancestors,it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.But when they came to Baal Peor,they consecrated themselves to that shameful idoland became as vile as the thing they loved.11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.12 Even if they rear children,I will bereave them of every one.Woe to themwhen I turn away from them!13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,planted in a pleasant place.But Ephraim will bring outtheir children to the slayer.”

14 Give them, Lord—what will you give them?Give them wombs that miscarryand breasts that are dry.

15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,I hated them there.Because of their sinful deeds,I will drive them out of my house.I will no longer love them;all their leaders are rebellious.16 Ephraim is blighted,their root is withered,they yield no fruit.Even if they bear children,I will slay their cherished offspring.”

17 My God will reject thembecause they have not obeyed him;they will be wanderers among the nations.

10 Israel was a spreading vine;he brought forth fruit for himself.As his fruit increased,he built more altars;as his land prospered,he adorned his sacred stones.2 Their heart is deceitful,and now they must bear their guilt.The Lord will demolish their altarsand destroy their sacred stones.

3 Then they will say, “We have no kingbecause we did not revere the Lord.But even if we had a king,what could he do for us?”4 They make many promises,take false oathsand make agreements;therefore lawsuits spring uplike poisonous weeds in a plowed field.5 The people who live in Samaria fearfor the calf-idol of Beth Aven.[b]Its people will mourn over it,and so will its idolatrous priests,those who had rejoiced over its splendor,because it is taken from them into exile.6 It will be carried to Assyriaas tribute for the great king.Ephraim will be disgraced;Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed,swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.8 The high places of wickedness[c] will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel.Thorns and thistles will grow upand cover their altars.Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

9 “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel,and there you have remained.[d]Will not war again overtakethe evildoers in Gibeah?10 When I please, I will punish them;nations will be gathered against themto put them in bonds for their double sin.11 Ephraim is a trained heiferthat loves to thresh;so I will put a yokeon her fair neck.I will drive Ephraim,Judah must plow,and Jacob must break up the ground.12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,reap the fruit of unfailing love,and break up your unplowed ground;for it is time to seek the Lord,until he comesand showers his righteousness on you.13 But you have planted wickedness,you have reaped evil,you have eaten the fruit of deception.Because you have depended on your own strengthand on your many warriors,14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,so that all your fortresses will be devastated—as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,because your wickedness is great.When that day dawns,the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

God’s Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,and out of Egypt I called my son.2 But the more they were called,the more they went away from me.[e]They sacrificed to the Baalsand they burned incense to images.3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,taking them by the arms;but they did not realizeit was I who healed them.4 I led them with cords of human kindness,with ties of love.To them I was like one who liftsa little child to the cheek,and I bent down to feed them.

5 “Will they not return to Egyptand will not Assyria rule over thembecause they refuse to repent?6 A sword will flash in their cities;it will devour their false prophetsand put an end to their plans.7 My people are determined to turn from me.Even though they call me God Most High,I will by no means exalt them.

8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim?How can I hand you over, Israel?How can I treat you like Admah?How can I make you like Zeboyim?My heart is changed within me;all my compassion is aroused.9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,nor will I devastate Ephraim again.For I am God, and not a man—the Holy One among you.I will not come against their cities.10 They will follow the Lord;he will roar like a lion.When he roars,his children will come trembling from the west.11 They will come from Egypt,trembling like sparrows,from Assyria, fluttering like doves.I will settle them in their homes,”declares the Lord.

Israel’s Sin

12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,Israel with deceit.And Judah is unruly against God,even against the faithful Holy One.[f]

Footnotes:

Hosea 9:8Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God

Hosea 10:5Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).

Hosea 10:8Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.

To the Church in Sardis

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

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